Ex-gov Jang versus ICPC: Court orders trial-within-trial

Plateau State High Court sitting in Jos has ordered a trial-within-trial to ascertain whether the statement by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission obtained from a former Cashier of the state Government House, Mr. Yusuf Pam, facing over N6 billion charges were voluntary.

It would be recalled that ICPC investigator Taiwo Olorunyomi on Tuesday told the State High Court how the former Governor of Plateau State Senator Jonah Jang withdrew N2 Billion from Small and Medium Enterprises fund and N3 billion from Plateau State Universal Basic Education Board, PSUBEB respectively.

The investigator stated that in the course of his investigation he wrote to the Plateau State government and several other agencies in other to recover documents that would help to unravel the truth of the allegations mentioned in the petition adding that several persons that were found to have played one role or the other in course of investigation, among whom were Jonah David Jang, the first defendant, Yusuf Pam, the second defendant, former Commissioner for Finance, Accountant General of the state and the permanent secretary with many others were interrogated .

At the resumed hearing of the case on Wednesday, Justice Daniel Longji who presided over the case gave the order in his ruling following the disclosure that ICPC operatives pressured Mr Pam to make written statements during the investigation.

Pam is standing trial at the state High Court alongside the former Governor of the State in a 12-count charge brought against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission which bordered on alleged corruption and misappropriation of the state fund amounting to over N6bn.

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When the case came up for hearing on Wednesday, the prosecutor, Mr Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, had called the 8th witness, Mr Taiwo Olorunwoni, an investigator with the ICPC ,who testified before the court how N2bn belonging to the Plateau State Medium and Small Scale Enterprise Agency and another N3bn of the state Universal Basic Education Board were withdrawn by the Cashier and taken to the former Governor.

Mr Jacobs had sought to tender the written statement of Mr Pam as evidence in court, but his move was objected to by the defence counsel, Mr Mike Ozekheme, SAN who argued that the statements were not voluntarily obtained as confirmed by Mr Pam who told the court that he was pressured by the ICPC operatives to make the written statement.

After arguments, the prosecution and the defence counsel, agreed for the court to proceed on trial within trial of the matter to ascertain if the statements were voluntarily obtained by the commission.

Justice Daniel Longji, therefore, adjourned the case for a trial-within-trial to the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth April 2019.